Many people have the idea that thoughts have no consequences, but that is not quite the case. The consequences of thoughts are everything you see. In fact, everything you see is the consequence of your thoughts. Those thoughts can be true or false. A true thought creates its own likeness and an untrue thought creates its likeness
There are no empty thoughts, because what gives rise to perception of a complete world cannot be called empty.
Every thought you have either expands truth or multiplies illusion.
In addition to the idea that thoughts are never idle, it is helpful for letting go that you recognize that a neutral outcome as a result of thoughts can never happen.
Thoughts often have some kind of feeling, such as
- Anxiety thoughts
- Peaceful thoughts
- Concerned Thoughts
- Etc.
A neutral thought is impossible.
The temptation, for example, to dismiss a fear thought as "oh well, that's not important" is so great that as a result you often fail to see that such thoughts are destructive and unreal.
Quantum theories and thoughts
Then there is also a scientific theory that thoughts become things. In this quantum theory, there are three parts to this.
You then have namely:
- A thought carriying particle (TCP)
- A thought retaining particle (TRP)
- Thought force (Tf, Thought force).
These three parts play a role in universal consciousness which exists alongside the universe. Individual consciousness is created by quantified energy; this energy is also responsible for thought power. Consciousness provides a constant projection of thoughts, causing thoughts to become things[1].
This is an interesting theory, because it basically says that something becomes what because you think about it.
But for now, we're going to take a closer look at thoughts as we all understand them.
Proven effects of thoughts
That thoughts can have consequences or effects has also been researched by scientists and interesting findings are coming out of that.
If you often ruminate, thinking for a long time about things from the past, you are more likely to suffer from unwanted thoughts that suddenly occur to you[2]. This has been studied because these types of unwanted thoughts are also common in people with obsessive behaviors (OCD).
A thought of suicide obviously also causes amplified emotion, but in addition, it causes stress in your body to dissipate only slowly. In addition, you then also experience more anger, anxiety, sadness and feelings of hopelessness[3]. If you ever do have these kinds of thoughts, it is always helpful to seek help for them.
Negative thoughts are also a factor, in addition to environmental factors, that can contribute to the development of depression in female adolescents and young adults[4].
Also, positive and negative thoughts affect how you see things next. If you have positive thoughts more often, you tend to judge things you see more positively, and if you have negative thoughts, you tend to judge things you see more negatively. You get a bias, so to speak[5].
So should you suppress thoughts?
Suppressing negative thoughts is crazy not going to help you. Research shows that when you suppress these types of thoughts it affects your self-esteem and suffering from other mental disorders[6].
Having a negative thought is always better than suppressing a negative thought.
So you better have the thought, but then how do you deal with it?
Exercise to deal with thoughts:
First, you are going to spend a minute examining your mind with your eyes closed. Also, try not to skip a single thought, even if it is a small one or one you are used to.
During the period, first repeat the idea
"I don't have a neutral thought."
And hold each thought for a moment and then say to yourself:
"This thought I have about ... is not a neutral thought."
"That thought about ... is not a neutral thought."
This can be about social issue, cleaning the dishwasher or whatever. It's all the same.
Use this idea even if you are aware that a thought triggers something in you.
Then you can also say:
"This thought about ... is not a neutral thought, because I don't have a neutral thought."
If you find that this is going well you can do this 4 to 5 times a day. Do you have tension? Then do it only 3 times and shorten the exercise if it makes you feel uneasy.
Also, listen to the explanation of the exercise here:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/195236/7311526-eciw-les-16?play=true
Treating thoughts for depression and anxiety
Thoughts can cause depression and anxiety at worst.
This is usually treated with cognitive behavioral therapy, but hypnosis is increasingly playing a role as well. For example, research shows that people suffering from depressive symptoms benefit more from cognitive hypnotherapy than cognitive behavioral therapy[7].
After hypnotherapy were:
- Complaints of depression were 6% lower than with cognitive behavioral therapy.
- Complaints with anxiety were 5% lower than with cognitive behavioral therapy.
- Complaints of hopelessness were 8% lower than with cognitive behavioral therapy.
Six and 12 months later, this difference was still the same.
Removing the cause of problematic thoughts
If you have thoughts that cause you to feel bad or get compulsive behavior, for example, you have to tap your foot 3 times before walking through a door, it is helpful to do something about it.
Often negative thoughts have had a beginning somewhere. After all, most children are naturally very cheerful and curious. You have to be too when you're little, because how else do you learn how the world works.
If you suffer from negative thoughts, the result is often that you become less curious about new experiences and less joyful. This is something that most people do suffer from, that they are no longer as cheerful as they were when they were a child.
But when did this start?
Were you getting more serious when you were 5, or were you 15 or even 21? Often if you go back to such a moment, to the first moment when you go a certain negative thought you can remove the cause of that negative thought.
This is something that can be done with hypnosis, then the regression technique is performed on you. A hypnotherapist then helps you identify that moment. Usually this is done by incrementally thinking back to the first moment a particular negative thought came up.
Next, you do something with that moment. The hypnotherapist helps you do this. This can be anything. Sometimes reinterpreting the moment with your adult knowledge is enough, but sometimes you can also use your imagination to do something to change the moment.
Depending on your problem, the hypnotist will help you with the right way to eliminate the problem.
It then checks whether you can still recall the feeling of those negative thoughts. Is this not the case? Then another technique may come in to make your new state a little more solid. Can you conjure it up? Then you can look at another memory that may have had a greater impact after all.
After such a regression, you can also get some suggestions that you can take home to repeat so that you can easily retain the new mindset.
These may include suggestions such as:
"I fully accept myself."
"I love myself completely."
"The world is here for me."
"I can do anything."
These are just examples. Depending on your thoughts and the effects you experience, you may be given other suggestions to repeat at home.
Addressing the consequence of a negative thought
Sometimes the consequence of a negative thought is also something you can address. For example, many people start eating when they are troubled by negative thoughts.
With hypnosis, you can also change such automatic behaviors. You then replace one automatic behavior for another.
For example, I once helped a woman who grabbed a cookie every time she walked into the kitchen. With hypnosis, we changed that automatic behavior to just mopping the floor.
When I asked later how it went, she said her kitchen floor has never been cleaner.
Again, this can indirectly mean that having that negative thought is not so bad, because after all, it no longer means you are going to do something bad. Instead, you are going to do something good. This is also a good way to show to yourself that thoughts are basically not so bad, what you do with them is something else again.
Want to learn more about these types of hypnosis techniques and how you can use them to help yourself or others improve life? Then come to a free online master class on hypnosis.
Or enroll directly in one of our training courses. Super fun if you are a coach or for your personal development. Training is delivered online from a professional studio and with enough assistance for 1 on 1 attention.
Sources:
[1] https://scholar.google.nl/scholar?hl=nl&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Interpretation+of+the+Fact+That+%E2%80%9CThoughts+Become+Things%E2%80%9D+Through+the+Consciousness+Model+&btnG=
[2] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2043808720912583
[3] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178121003243
[4] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10802-009-9325-1
[5] https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2007-06782-013
[6] https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/jscp.24.2.172.62269
[7] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207140601177897
